When is Line of Duty on TV?
Everything you need to know about the fifth series of the police corruption thriller
Line of Duty is back on BBC1 for a hotly anticipated fifth series about police anti-corruption unit AC-12. Jed Mercurio’s acclaimed thriller is lauded by viewers for the intricacy of its plot and its nail-biting interview scenes.
Here’s everything you need to know about series five…
When is Line of Duty series five on TV?
Line of Duty series five began airing on Sunday 31st March 2019. New episodes in the six-part series will air every Sunday at 9pm on BBC1.
The episodes will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
How to watch Line of Duty online
- Stream on BBC iPlayer
- Stream on Netflix
- Buy on Amazon
- Buy on iTunes
- Buy on Sky Store
Recap: What has happened so far in series five?
In case you need a reminder, these articles takes a deep dive into the events of each episode. Here are all the big revelations and unanswered questions...
- Line of Duty series 5: episode 1
- Line of Duty series 5: episode 2
- Line of Duty series 5: episode 3
- Line of Duty series 5: episode 4
- Line of Duty series 5: episode 5
And if you're about to launch into series five on iPlayer, take a look at what happened at the end of Line of Duty series four.
Who is in the cast of Line of Duty series five?
Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston are back as the officers of AC-12, returning to the job as Supt. Ted Hastings, DI Kate Fleming, and DS Steve Arnott.
The new series has also seen the return of Maya Sondhi as PC Maneet Bindra, Polly Walker as legal counsel Gill Biggeloe, and Aiysha Hart as Murder Squad cop (and Steve's ex-girlfriend) DS Sam Railston.
Tony Pitts made his return as Detective Chief Superintendent Les Hargreaves, while Andrea Irvine re-appears as Ted's estranged wife Roisin Hastings.
The two big guest stars for series five are Stephen Graham (as John Corbett) and Rochenda Sandall (as Lisa McQueen). Both are pivotal figures in a deadly organised crime group which is known to have links with corrupt police officers.
Other newcomers joining the cast include Taj Atwal as PC Tatleen Sohota, Richard Pepple as PS Kyle Ferringham, and actors Susan Vidler, Sian Reese-Williams, Ace Bhatti, and Elizabeth Rider.
Who is 'H'? Is Ted Hastings corrupt?
The end of series four saw Line of Duty’s network of “bent coppers” reveal itself to be even larger and more complex than AC-12 could have imagined, and they realised they had only scratched the surface of police corruption.
Over it all hangs the big unanswered question: who is "H" – the shadowy police insider with direct command of a network of balaclava-clad criminals? (And no, Adrian Dunbar is NOT happy about those Line of Duty hints that Hastings could be H.)
- Who is 'H' in Line of Duty? Meet the suspects
- Line of Duty: Examining the evidence against Ted Hastings
- Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio has been planning the 'H' conspiracy from day one
- Does this Ted Hastings speech from the first-ever Line of Duty episode give crucial information about his past in Ireland?
- Do these new Line of Duty series finale photos prove that Ted Hastings ISN'T 'H'?
Is there a trailer for Line of Duty series five?
YES! Here's the trailer for Line of Duty series five. It includes an ominous shot that appears to show Ted Hastings standing in a prison cell. The pressure is clearly on as we see not just one balaclava man but a whole gang, headed up by Stephen Graham's John Corbett, with three police officers murdered in a hijacking...
Will there be a sixth series of Line of Duty?
Yes, Line of Duty has already been commissioned for a sixth instalment.
Speaking in September 2018, series creator Mercurio said: "With Line of Duty we’re shooting series five now, and series six has been commissioned which we’re gonna shoot hopefully in the next couple of years."
But asked how long Line of Duty can go on for, Mercurio told the audience at a screening in London that it had a "lifespan."
"I don't know," he responded. "We all love making the show but I think a lot depends on how people respond to it. I think that it's great when people get very excited about it and they get to the end of the series and they're talking about what they want to know, what they want to see next. But I think we recognise that it's got a lifespan. So I think we're got to kind of calibrate that against what the audience response is."
Later, he told the audience at the BFI & Radio Times Festival: “Once series five has finished airing we’ll have a conversation with the BBC, with a view to whether there’s a possibility to series seven being commissioned. But we definitely know we’ve got series six.”
Where is Line of Duty filmed?
The drama is filmed in Belfast, where the cast relocate for the duration of the shoot – renting flats next door to each other.
"We just do what Vicky tells us," Adrian Dunbar reported. "We have three flats: my flat is the flat where they come to eat, and I cook. Vicky's flat is the flat where we go to learn lines, and Martin's flat is the party flat."
What do all the police acronyms mean in Line of Duty?
Line of Duty can sometimes be hard to keep up with, what with all those three-letter abbreviations flying around. Jed Mercurio's scripts assume a certain level of police knowledge, so here are some translations:
AC-12 – Anti-Corruption Unit 12
DCI – Detective Chief Inspector
DI – Detective Inspecto
DS – Detective Sergeant
DC – Detective Constable
PC – Police Constable
FI – Forensic Investigator
UCO – Undercover Officer
OCG – Organised Crime Group
SIO – Senior Investigating Officer
You can find our full guide here.
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Jed Mercurio's other drama: Bodyguard...
It's been a long break since the last series of Line of Duty, but writer Jed Mercurio kept himself busy with his BBC1 smash hit Bodyguard starring Line of Duty actress Keeley Hawes alongside Richard Madden. Charting bodyguard David Budd and his protection of Home Secretary Julia Montague, the series made a splash around the world – and earned Madden a Golden Globe.
- Bodyguard's action-packed series finale – explained
- Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio: there was a "discussion" about NOT killing off that main character
But as he returned to work on Line of Duty , Mercurio said, "After the hysteria surrounding Bodyguard, it's a relief to be back in the day job. I'm delighted to be working with the old gang and welcoming our brilliant newcomers led by Stephen Graham and Rochenda Sandall."
